Private School News

Surbiton High School Win British Schools’ Ski Championships for Second Consecutive Year

On Sunday 15th November Surbiton High School sent two ski teams to Pontypool in Wales to compete at the British Schools’ Ski Championships.

The girls were competing against approximately 400 racers but were well prepared following recent successes in previous races in the series.

All girls skied admirably despite the torrential rain and after the first run both teams were within reach of podium positions. The team consisting of Isabel Linacre, Alice MacAulay, Darcie Mead and Caroline Croft gave a terrific performance and won the Championship. Surbiton’s other team of Emily Pocock, Hannah Bilgore, Evie Kock and Mary Denning made fourth position in the Championship.

As well as team success, there were plenty of individual medals. Congratulations to Alice MacAulay who gained 2nd and Emily Pocock who won 3rd in their separate categories. Isabel Linacre did phenomenally well coming 1st in her age group and 2nd overall. Thanks must go to the girl’s parents and to Mrs Wilkey Head of PE, for all her support in the race and throughout the skiing season. Thanks also to Surbiton’s ski coaches Marc and Paul Telling who have helped Surbiton Ski Team win two successive British Championships!

England Rugby Scrum Half Paul Hodgson leads a Training Session for Caterham School 1st XV

Paul Hodgson, London Irish and England scrum half, came to Caterham School on Monday 12th October to run a training session with the School’s 1st XV.

After an initial assessment, Paul worked the team through decision making drills and conditioned tackling and defensive alignment exercises.

Director of Sport, Rob Clarke said, ‘It was fantastic to have Paul Hodgson work with the team. He is at the top of his profession and it has given our boys a big lift to see him here. Paul was able to give the boys some very valuable hints and tips that will help them develop into even better players. He ran a great session and his energetic and passionate coaching style really inspired the team. I look forward to welcoming him back to the school to run a sevens session after Christmas, and hopefully he will be here on a more regular basis during the next rugby season.’

After the session Paul said, ‘I was really impressed with the basic skills of the Caterham team. This is a beautiful school and the pitch is just fantastic. The boys worked hard and really improved. I am away with the England camp for the whole of November but I am very keen to come back again to run another session.’

Caterham Students give a storming performance at The Ashcroft Theatre

Fifth Year students from Caterham School performed an abridged version of Shakespeare’s magical, romantic play ‘The Tempest’ – a story of castaways, assassination attempts and strange sorcery – at The Ashcroft Theatre on Friday 9th October 2009.

Each evening for three nights, four local schools performed their own unique half hour interpretations of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. With tragedy, comedy and romance all on the bill, each audience was guaranteed a night to remember.

The performances were part of the 2009 Shakespeare Schools Festival, which is the largest youth drama festival in the country. This year 10,000 students will have performed at theatres across the country in a celebration of young people’s fresh, modern interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays. The events are organised by the Shakespeare Schools Festival charity, which was established in 2000.

Caterham School Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’Drama is one of the many subjects that we offer at A Level and it is one of the most popular and vibrant co-curricular activities in the School. Although we have a reputation for high academic standards I believe it is very important for students to participate in activities outside the classroom so that they not only have an excellent education, they also have a breadth and depth of experiences that helps to prepare them for life at university and beyond.’’

PHOTO :cast at the end of the dress rehearsal

Three little pigs go to school

Three little piglets have just arrived at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School. Chuck and Olive the Oxford Sandy and Blacks, and Aunt Vivienne, the Saddleback have moved in to the orchard in the school’s grounds. The 10 week old piglets will be looked after by Countryside Management BTEC pupils as part of the animal husbandry course. There will also be a pig keeping after-school club so other children can learn about looking after these useful animals.

Teacher, Mr Greenhalgh says “Pupils will learn about the use of livestock in conservation. In the case of pigs, they are excellent for turning over the soil and removing weeds without the use of chemicals. They also add manure which enriches the soil. At the moment the pigs and are turning over ground which will become allotments where pupils will grow seasonal vegetables. The pigs will be given the opportunity to root around various parts of the schools’ grounds in Gatton Park, including the orchard, woodlands and fields.

“We hope to add to our livestock collection by bringing in two goats soon. They will be used in different locations to keep the grass down. The pigs will be the bulldozers and the goats will be the lawn mowers!”

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis said “With the growing pressure on global resources, it is increasingly important for people to understand where their food comes from and to have an appreciation of how it is produced. By introducing animals into a school setting we can teach pupils important practical skills that will be useful in later life.”

An Outstanding Report from Ofsted for Caterham School

In June this year Caterham School had an announced Boarding inspection by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

The results have now been published. Ofsted report that ‘’the school offers an outstanding level of care to the Boarders and that the overall quality rating is outstanding’’.

The inspection covered six key standards;
~ Helping children to be healthy
~ Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe
~ Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do
~ Helping children make a positive contribution
~ Achieving economic wellbeing
~ Organisation

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’We are thrilled to receive such a positive report from Ofsted as Boarding is such an important aspect of Caterham School. Not only do the Boarding students outperform many of the day pupils in exams, they also add so much to the life of the school. I was particularly pleased that Ofsted commended us for our pro active approach towards ensuring the safety and welfare of the pupils, and they acknowledged that this remains one of our top priorities. We provide extensive training to our staff and their professional expertise and dedication ensures that pupils have access to the highest possible standards of pastoral care.’’

Physical adventures on Dartmoor for Royal School’s Year 8 girls

The Royal School’s Year 8 recently went to the Sheldon Centre on Dartmoor for a week of physical adventures including climbing, abseiling, swimming, caving, cycling and hiking. They also managed to include a day of geographical fieldwork on Hay Tor and in the villages of Christow and Bovey Tracey. This busy schedule was combined with duties such as preparing all of the meals, washing up after them, cleaning their accommodation and generally learning the value of working together as a team. They even found time in the evenings for the occasional game of rounders, team quizzes and dramatic challenges! This range of activities proved challenging to some and initially took many out of their comfort zones……. The weather was extremely kind to the group and they all came back with happy memories of a very busy but rewarding week.

Picture:Sophie Duckworth, Benedicte Sampson, Harriet Stovold

GCSE results continue to rise at Royal Alexandra and Albert School

Year 11 pupils at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School rounded off the academic year with another crop of excellent GCSE results. 80% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-Cs which is a 2% increase on the School’s 2008 figure of 78%.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis said “I am pleased our results have continued to rise. Many pupils have achieved grades beyond their expectations and this is due to their own hard work and the support they received from teachers and other staff at the School.”

This year, for the first time, some pupils completed BTEC Countryside and Environment or BTEC Horse care. Mr Spencer Ellis comments “The two new BTECs have been a huge success. Everybody passed on both courses with the majority of pupils who took BTEC Horse care getting an A*. On the BTEC Couuntryside and Environment course, the majority got A or A*. These more practical courses suit pupils who don’t necessarily want to pursue the traditional GCSE subjects.”

There are many individual success stories and here are just a few;

Tim Mackworth-Praed who achieved 10 GCSEs (including 5 A*s and 3 As) will be going on to take up a sixth form scholarship at Reed’s School in Cobham. Tim said “I am very pleased with these results which mean I can take up my scholarship at Reed’s”. Tim recently achieved a Diploma in Musical Theatre which is equivalent to passing the first year’s exams at university.

Lauren Lee achieved an outstanding 10As and a B grade and Jaymez Clark achieved 11 GCSEs including 5As.

Charlotte McDermott was relieved that she passed all 11 of her GCSEs and achieved several A and A* grades. This is because she was selected for the Junior Squad to represent England at the European Taekwon-Do championships in Slovenia and some of her exams clashed with the championship. However, after discussions between the exam boards and the School, arrangements were made to ensure she did not lose out. Charlotte went on to win a bronze medal for England in the Taekwon-Do “Team Sparring” event. Charlotte says “Despite the disruption to my studies due to the European championship I am pleased with my results, especially the A for PE. I am going to study A levels at Reigate College and am planning a career as a personal trainer.”

BTEC Horse care pupils Tarryn Poole, Bethany Gage and Jessica Addenbrooke enjoyed the practical nature of the Horse care BTEC course.

Tarryn Poole, who is staying at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School to study A levels including A level Horse care says “Everything on the course is hands-on and you learn how to think for yourself. Most of the time is spent with horses but there is still course work to be completed.” Tarryn, who would like a career working with horses, possibly as a Stable Manager, plans to go on to study a degree in Horse care.

Jessica Addenbrooke adds “BTEC Horse care covered many areas including how to shoe a horse and how to check its general health. I am now much better informed and have decided that horses will be a hobby for me, rather than a career.” Jessica will be studying A levels at Reigate College and hopes to join the RAF.

Bethany Gage has always loved horses and plans a career working with race horses. “The Horse care BTEC has prepared me for my move to the British Racing School in Newmarket where I will be training to work in the racing industry.”

Caterham School Lower Sixth Students receive training in non-verbal communication

On Tuesday 30 June, Lower Sixth students at Caterham School received training in non-verbal communication. The workshop was run by Tracey Sinclair and Charles Damerell, co-founders of NVI International, a company that teaches people how to maximise their interpersonal skills through the development of Non-Verbal Intelligence.

According to many specialists, up to 93% of what is “said” when communicating with others is never spoken. It is non-verbal. That means that what a person does with body language, voice tones, eye movement, breathing and gesturing affects communication.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘This training session on non verbal intelligence is an example of our forward thinking approach and was introduced to help the Sixth Form students with their presentation and interview technique. Whilst all our students progress to university with 91% going to their first choice and 84% to one in the top tier, we are very conscious that they need to be able to secure a career in their life after university. We believe that this very useful training session will help them improve their communication skills and perform well in interviews.’

CTC students win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in Physics & Mathematics Olympiads

In the British Mathematical Olympiad Round 1 (2008-2009), the following CTC students were awarded medals:-

Miss DUONG Minh Trang from Vietnam Silver Medal and Distinction

Mr XIANG Lingrui from China Bronze Medal and Distinction

Mr Nguyen Huu Duc from Vietnam Bronze Medal and Distinction

The picture above shows from left to right Principal Mario Di Clemente, Xiang Lingrui, Mrs Mary Pillai Head of Mathematics at CTC, Nguyen Huu Duc and Silver medalist Duong Minh Trang. In addition to his Bronze Medal for Mathematics, our star student Xiang Lingrui (pictured above right) also won a Gold Medal in Physics.

In the prelude to the Mathematical Olympiad, the Senior Mathematical Challenge held in November 2008, CTC Year 13 students gained 10 Gold, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze medals, whilst Year 12 students won 15 Gold, 9 Silver and 9 Bronze medals

Financial Times Top 1,000 Schools 2009

In the latest Financial Times league tables published on 21st March 2009, CTC was ranked No. 77 out of the top 1,000 schools and colleges nationwide.

CTC has now appeared in the top 100 (10%) of the FT league table for the sixth successive year, with its best placement being at No. 40 in March 2008

Lads v Dads & Mums v Sons Cricket

Once again the Boys beat their parents in the annual cricket matches. The Colts took on a confident Dads X1 captained by Mr Williams, the Colts Captain’s father. Runs soon began to flow as the boys batted and the fathers struggled to roll back the years! When the fathers batted they found it difficult to fend off the accurate bowling and fielding from the boys. Despite some imaginative scoring the boys ended up winning comfortably.

The mums played two matches against their sons, one at Under 8, the other at Under 9. The boys won both matches but a great deal of fun was had by one and all. The biggest hit of the day was not with a cricket bat but was the match tea! Many thanks to all the mums for being ‘good sports’ but also for providing such a delicious tea.

Year 8 Examination Success!

Congratulations to all the Year 8 boys who successfully secured a place at their Senior School with some very impressive marks at Common Entrance. This year schools include: Epsom College, St. John’s Leatherhead, City of London Freeman’s, Ewell Castle and Reigate Grammar. The boys are now off to Aderdovey in North Wales for a week of Outdoor Pursuits enjoying activities such as rock climbing, canoeing and hiking in Snowdonia. When they return they will continue the Leavers’ Programme with a visit from a Bank Manager, a First Aid Course and a talk from a Senior Housemaster about life at Senior School plus conservation and much more.

Year 4 boys from Priory School, Surrey, visit Sayers Croft

Year 4 boys have just returned from their first residential trip with the school having visited Sayers Croft in Ewhurst. Sayers Croft is a beautiful, safe and secure site with 56 acres of woodlands, meadows, ponds and fields and has been providing quality outdoor experiences for young people for over 70 years. The boys took part in a night walk, raft building, orienteering, den building and listened to bats communicating through bat boxes. Mrs Landaueur, the Year 4 teacher said, ‘The boys had a great time, learnt a great deal and have started to appreciate their environment’. One boy commented that it was the best trip that he had ever been on and could not wait to go away next year!

Priory Prep, Surrey, named as ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted School

Priory Preparatory School has been awarded an ‘Outstanding School’ award by Ofsted for its recent Inspections held at the school. Headmaster, Graham Malcolm said ‘We are delighted to receive this award and the recognition of the excellent work going on every day in the classroom.’ Only a handful of schools in the country have received this award and it comes shortly after the excellent Independent Schools Inspectorate report when the school was also desrcribed as ‘Outstanding.’

Caterham School Pupils Perform Alice in Wonderland

On Thursday 25 June and Friday 26 June, pupils at Caterham School performed Alice in Wonderland to large audiences of parents, teachers and friends.

Forty-two pupils were involved either in the cast or in the backstage team. Saskia Jiggens (2D), as Alice, completely stole the show with a polished performance as the eponymous heroine. Joe McNeice (1C), who gallantly donned a dress to play a hilarious Duchess, and Rachel Wright (3A) who was a formidable Queen of Hearts, ably supported her. Sixth Former Ben Horne, in his last ever production at Caterham, went out in style as the twitchy White Rabbit.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said. ‘’ I am always impressed by the amount of enthusiasm and commitment that our pupils bring to their studies and to the co-curricular activities. This was another very enjoyable production and follows a much acclaimed Toad of Toad Hall earlier this year. Drama and Theatre Studies is flourishing at Caterham School both as an academic subject and as a co-curricular activity. I was very pleased to see all year groups represented in the cast and crew.’’

Caterham School Pupils Attempt World Record for Robot Dancing

On Friday 26 June, 569 Caterham School pupils dressed as robots to perform a ‘’Robot Dance’’ in an attempt to set a new World Record. The previous record for the most people performing a Robot Dance was 276, which was set in September 2007 by the University of Kent.

Achieving the record required pupils to be dancing, dressed as robots, to a choreographed routine in the same place at the same time for five minutes.

Pupils were charged £1 to participate to raise money for Lerang’wa Primary School in Tanzania.

The event was organised by the Charity Committee and this project was led by students Hannah Wright (L6), Rosie Clarke (L6) and Georgia Mills (L6). The routine was choreographed by teacher Miss Lucy Thomas with the assistance of Azuoma Obikudu, Taiwo Daniel and Katie Barrett (all Fifth Year)

Photographs were taken to submit to Guinness World Records as proof of the achievement and so formal recognition will take a few days.

The dance coincided with Mufti Day when pupils and staff wear casual clothes and pay a ‘’fine’’ to raise money for charity.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘I am delighted that the students had the idea of using the focal point of an attempt on a World Record to raise money for charity. When we talk of the importance of co-curricular activity it is easy to overlook the fact that so many of our pupils also make a contribution to society, either by raising funds for charities or by giving generously of their time.’

Collingwood School celebrates its 80th birthday!

Collingwood Boys’ School was opened by its owner Mrs Hollis in January 1929 at ‘Winton’, 13 Stanley Park Road. Five years earlier she had founded Collingwood School for Girls. She soon began to take boys and, as numbers increased, decided to separate the girls from the boys. Soon the boys’ school needed larger premises and they moved to 3 Springfield Road in May 1934. Mr Ingham bought the boys’ school from Mrs Hollis in January 1935, whilst she continued to run the girls’ school until its closure in 1972.

After the war, extra accommodation was again necessary, and the Junior Department at 12 Maldon Road was acquired. The younger boys transferred there in September 1945. Mr Ingham died in 1952 and his wife continued as Principal until her death in May 1960. Mrs Ingham had planned to retire in July 1960 and had already appointed her nephew, Mr John Richardson (an assistant master at the school from September 1948) as Headmaster. Her daughter Miss Jennifer Ingham became the Principal..

In September 1978, Miss Ingham formed the school into an Educational Trust, thereby ensuring as far as possible the continuity of the school. Mr John Richardson retired in July 1988. and shortly afterwards a further phase in the development of the school, a nursery/infant department of three classes at the Maldon Road site was introduced. The school became co-educational in 1991.

The current Headmaster, Mr Geoffrey Barham, has been leading Collingwood since 2000 and since that time there have been many exciting developments. The school’s new extension, The Brian Lay Wing, (comprising two new classrooms and a large Design Technology Suite) was opened in September 2003 as was the lovely new ICT Suite. Collingwood pupils continue to lead a very exciting life and the school has a well-earned reputation scholastically and in sport, drama and music. The school was awarded an Artsmark by Arts Council England in July 2007. Collingwood’s choristers have sung on GMTV at Christmas time for three successive years and the school’s link with Ecole Sainte Jeanne d’Arc in Paris is well-established with residential visits now an annual event.

For further information, please contact Geoff Barham on 0208 647 4607 or email: headmaster@collingwood.sutton.sch.uk

Caterham School Pupils Raise Money for HIV Charity

Last September, at the beginning of the academic year, a group of Third Year pupils chose to embark on the Social Entrepreneurs Project, a scheme described as ‘Young Enterprise with a conscience’. HOPEHIV, a charity that supports children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa affected by HIV/AIDS, created the project. Pupils are given ‘seed capital’’ and have to find ways to make a profit to generate funds for the charity. Caterham School pupils chose a variety of enterprising activities: social events were organised, cars were washed cars, cakes were baked and roses were sold for Valentines Day.

These activities generated £1,000 profit. The pupils took great pleasure in presenting a cheque for that amount to Catherine Hedges from HOPEHIV when she came to the School on 18 June.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’ When we talk of the importance of a wide variety of co-curricular activities, it is easy to overlook the fact that so many of our pupils also make a contribution to society, either by raising funds for charities or by giving their time. This project is a way of bringing entrepreneurial skills and social awareness into the classroom. All profits are donated to HOPEHIV, so pupils know they can make a real difference. I am sure that the success of this initiative means that pupils will be keen to sign up for next year.’’

PHOTO: Third Year pupils with Catherine Hedges from HOPEHIV

Successful Author Christopher Lloyd Visits Caterham School

Christopher Lloyd, author of the very successful book What on Earth Happened?, visited Caterham School on Thursday 11 June to talk to First Year pupils.

Christopher Lloyd said: ’The book covers the whole history of the Earth—planet, life and people— in one easy-to-read narrative volume. It is not just a history book, it also covers science, biology, geography, religion, art, politics and economics— all tied together in a chronological framework.’

In February the book was serialised in The Independent as ‘The World: A Pocket History’ and Christopher has been interviewed on the BBC Breakfast programme.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘At Caterham we want pupils to develop a passion for learning and genuine interests that extend beyond the confines of the classroom. Encouraging the enjoyment of reading is very much a part of that approach. The breadth of narrative in Christopher’s book meant that the pupils not only enjoyed hearing Christopher speak, they also learnt from his presentation.’’

Note:
Christopher Lloyd has had a career as a journalist, writer and as a manager in education software publishing. He graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1991 with two scholarships and a double first-class degree in History and then worked at The Sunday Times. He then moved into the management at News International before moving to an education software publishing company. He is now a regular columnist for Resurgence Magazine writing on a range of environmental, political and lifestyle topics.

PHOTO:Christopher Lloyd signs a copy of his book for Joe McNeice.

More science at less cost to the environment

Friday 5th June marked the official opening of a new energy efficient science building at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School. The School has expanded its science facilities with the addition of two new science laboratories and a state-of-the-art science preparation room. The two new labs have multi-media projectors and sound systems that are capable of showing the 21st century presentations that teachers use to support their lessons.

The school’s existing science labs have been refurbished and all labs have been equipped with new mobile fume cupboards. With mobile fume cupboards teachers will be able to demonstrate experiments safely and in full view of the whole class.

Many schools do not offer separate sciences at GCSE but the Royal Alexandra and Albert School has been offering separate sciences (biology, physics and chemistry) to a limited number of pupils since 2006.

Headmaster, Paul Spencer Ellis says “With our expanded science facilities we will be able to triple the number of pupils who can take separate sciences at GCSE. As the school prepares for the introduction of a sixth form we have now put in place the capability to deliver specialist sciences at A level.”

He continues “Our new science block has energy saving features to reduce the impact on the environment. One of these is a ‘mono-draught’, a system for heating, cooling and ventilating the labs but only uses a fraction of the energy of a conventional air conditioning system. Lighting for the new block uses sensors that detect movement and natural light levels to determine whether the room is in use and whether the natural light is sufficient to illuminate the lab.”

The new science labs are in The John White teaching block which was officially opened on Friday 5th June by Crispin Blunt MP. Each new laboratory has been named in recognition of the generous donations made to the school with one being named the ‘Wolfson Laboratory’ and the other being named the ‘Turner Laboratory’. Following the opening of the teaching block Mr John Turner officially opened the Turner Laboratory.